Dangerous and defective roadways lead to accidents that cause pain and suffering.
Case StudyMDL recovered $1,300,000 from the State of New York for a seriously injured passenger in a car that left the roadway and plunged down a 200-foot embankment. Although the State of New York is generally immune from liability for its highway planning decisions, MDL successfully argued that the state violated an established safety standard in the installation of guardrails.
Generally speaking, a poorly designed product that causes injury to someone else falls under the principle of products liability; that is, the guilty party in the manufacturing chain for a particular product can be found liable for the damage caused by that product.
If you or a loved one is the victim of a dangerous roadway due to roadway design and defect, you may have rights against either the local municipality or the state itself. You will need legal representation to file a timely notice of claim with the appropriate agencies.
Despite the advances in roadway engineering and design witnessed in the last century, errors in design and construction still contribute to motor vehicle collisions. Federal and state departments of transportation have published guidelines and highway design engineers have set standards to ensure the safety of motorists, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians alike. Unfortunately, these same municipalities and state agencies frequently fail to follow their own highway safety guidelines and standards.
Local municipalities and state agencies are responsible for providing roadways that are reasonably safe for use by the traveling public. This responsibility extends to providing reasonably safe and sufficiently strong guardrails, adequate and sufficient roadway markings and signs, adequate and sufficient notification of a sudden change in a roadway condition such as an impending construction zone, merging traffic or the existence or potential development of hazardous weather conditions as well as proper and timely roadway maintenance.
The attorneys at MDL are familiar with the state and local roadway guidelines and have many years of experience and resources for handling roadway design defect cases. Please contact our roadway design and defect attorneys for a free consultation. Call us at 201-585-9111, or contact us today with our quick inquiry form. We handle roadway design and defect cases in New Jersey.